Verbal Energy

Rules of English spelling – revealed!

Popular linguist David Crystal's new book, 'Spell It Out,' explains the rules of English spelling – but who knew there even were rules?
Build your vocabulary the novel way

Research shows that the biggest vocabularies belong to those who read 'lots' of fiction; is it just a question of time?
Packing up our skill sets and going to work

As their world dissolves into zeros and ones, no wonder techies and think-tankers turn to the vocabulary of hands-on labor.
Shooting our mouths off, as well as our guns

After yet another mass shooting, the Monitor's language columnist considers the role of gun metaphors in ordinary conversation.
Collective nouns and the squiggly green line

Are the grammar bots scaring us away from a long-established space-saving usage?
The companies we keep – singular and plural

English speakers have been wrestling with singulars and plurals for centuries – and the grammar rules don't always help.
Tense time: historically present, timelessly now

Why do talking heads in the media keep using the present tense?
Why 'spokesperson' still irks me

Not all gender-specific language is sexist.
When 'terror' doesn't mean 'terrorism'

The public conversation loses something when terror – a human emotion – becomes an all-purpose synonym for terrorism, a political or ideological tactic.
Pupils who have yet to unfold their wings

We get it that pre-K is the hot new thing in education – but are 4-year-olds really 'students'?
Slipping into my cloak of transparency

Have telecommuting workers adopted the wrong metaphor for electronic face time?
When did 'sex' become 'gender'?

How Ruth Bader Ginsburg's secretary helped to effect a shift in public discourse.
In order to omit needless words and cut deadwood

Wherein the Monitor’s language columnist vents a bit on redundancies she loves to hate, but also warns wordsmiths against turning into 'search-and-replace' editors.
The paradox of property

The two broad senses of the word 'property' shed light on the intellectual property debate.
Abdicating, resigning, or just stepping down?

Changes in Rome, the Netherlands, and Cuba illustrate our vocabulary of transition.
The imperatives of National Grammar Day

Who knew that a day devoted to good grammar could be so much fun?
Shoveling Nemo

The linguistic takeaway from a major snowstorm turns out to be that 'blizzard' is a relatively new term.
What we talk about when we talk about money

A look at the sometimes checkered vocabulary of public finance.
When diplomatic language isn't just double talk

When a former secretary of State describes the US and China as 'frenemies,' she reminds the Monitor's language columnist that diplomatic lingo isn't all euphemism.
'Carmen,' gypsies, bohemians, and 'others'

A performance of 'Carmen' reminds the Monitor’s language columnist how vexed our language for various 'others' is.